


And Understanding Teammates

by Estirose



Series: Harder to be Brave, Easier to Hide [4]
Category: Power Rangers R.P.M.
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-12
Updated: 2011-02-12
Packaged: 2017-10-15 14:24:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/161703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer watches Ziggy sleep. Part of the "Harder" storyline. Mentions of suicidal ideation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Understanding Teammates

Summer watched Ziggy watch from the door. He was sleeping soundly, one thin arm contrasting against the dark green covers, the other arm half-buried by his head. His morpher was sitting snugly on his wrist, their insurance that if he tried to leave, they could find him and stop him. Scott had been talking about ways to make sure Ziggy couldn't take the morpher off until they were sure he wouldn't try to kill himself.  
   
Flynn had been in the room earlier, she knew, taking Ziggy's things away for a little while until they were sure he was safe. Scott was talking to Doctor K about what to do. With nothing else for her to do, or at least anything to keep her attention, she'd found herself outside Ziggy's room, making sure he was okay. Or as okay as he was going to be at the moment. It was Dillon's watch right now, technically speaking, but she found herself taking it up, wanting to make sure that she did what she could for Ziggy.  
   
She had to admit, Ziggy didn't make the best first impression. Or second, third, or fourth. He was a coward, he cracked bad jokes, he tried to be impressive and failed spectacularly. He could be the kind of guy that you were embarrassed to admit you knew.  
   
And then he did things like take on a power and responsibility he didn't want to keep a promise he'd made. His actions had saved them, just as they'd stuck the team with a Ranger that was unqualified for the job. Even she'd known how to fight when she'd been offered hers.  
   
That was Ziggy for you, a contradiction in terms. A good guy who had made bad choices; someone who joked and smiled as he was in pain. Someone who wanted to be loved and managed to do everything to keep him from being loved.  
   
Someone who wanted love, people to love him as he was, just as she had subconsciously. When she'd left everything behind to save Scott and become a Ranger, she'd found those people. Scott and Flynn had been the ones she'd needed to keep her from regressing back to the old Summer Landsdown, sometimes. And with his team around him, she was sure that Ziggy would  
be the same way.  
   
If they could keep him from dying.  
   
What was bothering her, she had to admitl was that Ziggy had implied that it was the team that had driven him away. That he'd felt not wanted. She'd done her share of lecturing; Scott, Flynn, and Dr. K too. She didn't know about the others, but she'd wanted Ziggy to understand. And it turned out he had, a little too well. Enough to walk out of there without his morpher, intent on freeing up his power the only way he knew how.  
   
If Dillon and Dr. K hadn't been there, he could have been dead. He knew the tech well enough to know that he couldn't be tracked without his morpher, and he had a gift for provoking people - unintentionally, probably, but enough to know how to piss someone off. That's what Dillon had figured out, anyway, from what she'd gotten out of him after Ziggy had gone to sleep. It was pure luck that Ziggy had gotten hungry and stopped long enough for Dillon to chase him down.  
   
She didn't know how Scott wanted to handle this, but it was clear that the most important thing that Ziggy had to understand was not his responsibilities, but theirs. To know that they were there for him, and that he was on this team, and he wasn't going to leave it. They wouldn't let him. Not the way he'd tried.  
   
At least they'd have time to talk. She intended to sit Ziggy down during her afternoon watch and get him to realize that he had teammates now, and damned if they were going to let him die.  
   
As Dillon came into view, she let go of the doorframe, silently ceding the watch back to Dillon. She'd have time to talk to Ziggy later.


End file.
